>> "newsweek's" howard fineman, as always thanks. >> that's september 14th for now. i'm keith olbermann. good night and good luck. and now to discuss tonight's primaries and why a certain tea party past is about to catch up with her on msnbc, ladies and gentlemen, here is rachel maddow. good evening. who are your special guests tonight? >> my special guests tonight include -- >> chris matthews and lorenz o'donnell. >> keith olbermann and lawrence o'donnell and chris matthews all coming up in just a second. can you hold on for a moment before i come back to you? >> i'll just wait here. thanks for staying us with at home on what promises tock a very, very business election night. the last big night of primaries for this year's elections. tonight's the night we learn the final matchups. with news from new york, new

hampshire, delaware, maryland, massachusetts, rhode island, wisconsin, and the district of columbia. will insurgent conservative movement candidates keep picking off the republican establishment? will the sharron angle and rand pauls of this election year have more company as candidates no one can quite believe keep winning major party nominations for major political office. >> you can't masturbate without lust. >> oh dear. tonight's results from the delaware senate primary with keith olbermann, chris matthews and lawrence o'donnell, made silver about the stats of what is likely to happen next in november. it's all ahead in this tonight's primary hour of "the rachel maddow show." thank you for joining us tonight. and welcome to the last major night of primaries before this

year's midterm elections. it is now 9:00 p.m. on the east coast, which means that polls have officially closed in the seven states across the country, holding elections tonight. plus the district of columbia. we are keeping an eye on all of the results as they come in this hour. perhaps the biggest single race of the night is the race for republican nomination for senate in the great state of delaware. it's the race to fill vice president joe biden's old senate seat. polling leading up to today suggesting a virtual dead heat between nine-term republican congressman mike castle and the tea party-backed challenger christine o'donnell. right now with 67% of precincts reporting, christine o'donnell leads mike castle with 55% of the vote to mike castle's 45%. we will have much more on this race in a moment. polls have just closed in the state of new york, where controversy plagued democratic congressman charlie rangel is trying to hold on to his seat tonight that he has held on to

45 years so far. he is facing five challengers, chief among them adam clayton powell iv. we're still awaiting results in the race as well as in the race for the republican nomination for governor in new york, the republican establishment pick here is rick lazio, a man who has run for just about everything in new york. rick lazio is facing an unexpectedly strong challenge from a man named carl paladino, who was most famous essentially for sending out super pornographic and/or racist e-mails like this one. that's president obama and first lady michelle obama dressed as a pump and prostitute, a photo shopped image mr. paladino e-mailed out under the heading "white house ball." that was one of the more g-rated e-mails carl paladino sent out for which he had to later apologize which he had to later explain he didn't really mean the apology. we'll be watching it very closely as results do come in now that polls have closed. but again, the most

intriguing race of the night is happening at least so far in delaware. the republican senate primary between congressman mike castle and tea party-endorsed candidate christine o'donnell. since christine o'donnell's challenge to mike castle has become unexpectedly strong, her background as one of the most extreme abstinence advocates in the country has attracted lots of attention. and i mean abstinence as in sexual abstinence. we have talked about on the show before the fact that according to christine o'donnell it is not enough to be abstinent with other people. you must also be abstinent while you are alone. christine o'donnell spoke to v mtv. he is spoke to prevent kids from you know whatting while they are alone. we have managed to obtain that tape and we will show it to you tonight for the first time. >> my name is christine o'donnell. i am the president and founder of the salt. the salt stands for the saviors

alliance for lifting the truth. we choose sexual purity in our lives. we have god-given sexual desires. and we need to understand them and preserve them to be used in god's appropriate context. we need to address sexuality with young people. and masturbation is part of sexuality. but it is important to discuss this from a moral point of view. >> masturbation is a selfish act, and it's a lustful one. and we are to walk with pure hearts, not lusting hearts. >> the bible is clear in the fact that it says that any sexual act outside of the realm of marriage is wrong. >> the bubel says that lust in your heart is committing adultery. so you can't masturbate without lust. the reason that you don't tell them that masturbation is the answer to aids and all these other problems that come with sex outside of marriage is because, again, it is not addressing the issue. you're going to be pleasing each

other. and if he already knows what pleases him and he can please himself, then why am i in the picture? >> ladies and gentlemen, the possible republican nominee for senate in delaware. do we have the latest figures on this senate race in delaware right now? right now we have 81% of precincts reporting in the lead right now of christine o'donnell over mike castle is 54% for christine o'donnell and 46% for mike castle. again, i'm just getting those in my earpiece right now with 81% of reporting. christine o'donnell right now with a nine-point lead -- excuse me, an eight-point lead over mike castle. there it is. 81% of precincts reporting. mike castle with 46% of the vote. christine o'donnell with 54% of the vote. now to be clear, the controversy about christine o'donnell's past is not about religion. christine o'donnell is of course free to practice whatever religion she wants. that's the beauty of america. your private beliefs are your

private beliefs. the reason we have tape of her exclaiming about these beliefs are not because they're her private thoughts or beliefs, but because christine o'donnell built her career on doing public national advocacy on abstinence. she founded this organization s.a.l.t. to promote abstinence in policy, this is the way americans should live. these are the things she did before running for office that tape has not been seen anywhere in 14 years. but if christine o'donnell manages to pull off this upset in delaware tonight, you can count on seeing a lot of that tape over the next seven weeks. joining us now for this big primary night is all of msnbc prime time. keith olbermann, chris matthews, the host of "hardball" and lawrence o'donnell, fellow, thank you very much for joining us this evening. >> good to be here. >> always a pleasure. >> high. >> keith, let me start with you. obviously still awaiting final results in delaware. but given christine o'donnell's now unearthed views on

self-abstinence, what would a win for her mean tonight? >> well, we would have to wait a long time obviously for any kind of a result based on what you were just reporting. one thing that is important, quite seriously is we are talking about vote totals that in aggregate will still be around 40,000. it is obviously important for what happens in the senate race. it will obviously make another inroad for the tea party, which is not necessarily a bad thing in terms of the democrats' perspective. i think we have been over that, you and i in our respective shows 10 million times each. it is still a very small sample. and probably you can find 15,000 people or 16,000 people which is what you would need for the nomination. >> keith, let me ask you to just hold your thought on that a moment just to tell you, and i ask you to return to your thought, because the ap has just called the race for christine o'donnell. christine o'donnell according to the associated press has won the republican nomination for senate in delaware. please continue with your thought there. >> well, what i was saying was

exactly correct obviously because she won the nomination with that small number of votes. what does it means in terms of a national perspective? it's impossible to say. it's such a small sample that can produce something like that. it underscores -- it's a bad year to be an incumbent, even if you're an incumbent running for a different job. if you're running as a politician you can be defeated by people who act very much like they have never left their own homes before. >> chris, let me ask you about the republican reaction to christine o'donnell winning this. they have obviously been very outspoken in their support for mike castle. very worried in an outspoken way about what has happened. how is the republican party

going to respond to this? >> well, they're initially going to embrace her, because she is their candidate. and they're going to have to win with her. to make sure she talks about unemployment and taxes and big spending. and the issues that they're going to go around and try to pin the. republicans are pretty mechanical about this. they're not going to sit and worry what she said about the issues you've been talking about 14 years ago. they're going to get her dressed up and ready to win this thing. >> lawrence, in terms of chris's point there, do republicans have to worry about the prospect of a christine o'donnell like a sharron angle sort of becoming a national figure defining the republican party in this race? do they have to worry that some of these candidates are so out there, they essentially become an extremism mascot for the campaign? >> they have to worry and they have been worried about christine o'donnell. this is their worst nightmare in delaware. mike castle would have taken

that seat. no one disputes it. he would have walked in. now really has a shot at holding the seat for the democrats. a seat that more prominent democrats chose not to run for this time around, feeling that in these midterm elections, they tend not to go for the president's party. so this would be tough for the democrat in delaware. it's now possibly just the kind of reversal that the democrats needed. it reminds me of the night that harry reid celebrated sharron angle winning that republican primary in nevada. >> lawrence, what we're look at right there is christine o'donnell campaign headquarters. you can see the jubilation at the headquarters there in this come-from-behind candidacy. keith, what we're looking at those scenes -- >> it looks like a lot of lust from here. i'm not sure, rachel. >> it's a chaste celebration in wilmington there as far as we can tell.

what lawrence is saying, keith, about this being a huge gift to democrats, that is certainly quantifiable in terms if you look at what christine o'donnell's chances are in this race as opposed to mike castle in the polling. but is there a bigger danger that she ends up and the sharron angles and the rand pauls end up defining a new normal for the republican party, and thus pushing all of american politics that much further to the kook side? >> every time the republican party has gone too far to the far right, 1964 being the primary example, it has gone off a cliff and needed significant repair that has taken at least two years on all occasions. however, there is one thing to remember about all nominations, and that is if somebody can win a nomination, they can win an election. it doesn't mean they're going to. it doesn't mean that there is going to be a senator o'donnell or a senator angle or a senator paul. but the nomination is the nomination. and that puts her on the ballot. and that makes it a possibility that she could be elected. so this assumption as i was talking about howard fineman

about 15 minutes ago on "countdown," the assumption that everybody had was that she couldn't possibly knock off this veteran well-liked middle of the road republican congressman who was attempting to make himself senator mike castle. that was the assumption. now assumption is she can't possibly beat a democrat that is liber liberal. so is the vote in delaware in 49 days. in 49 days she could say anything or nothing and ride this momentum. conceivably if she doesn't screw it up, she could get herself elected senator. >> rachel, i have to say the power of women voters, you've got to look at it. step back from the ideology here, the cultural issues there are an awful lot of women that felt frustrated by hillary clinton's failure two years ago. i'm telling you, it's popping up. i hear it.

anecdotally i admit. look at this picture. they may be conservative women, but women nonetheless. they may be joined by other women who feel it's time for more women to win these offices. i wouldn't put that apart from the general election caucus right now. >> it is impossible for me to imagine that people who are disappointed that hillary clinton did not beat barack obama in the primaries are voting in large numbers for a candidate as extreme as christine o'donnell. yeah, chromosomes are there, but the politics are completely opposite. i don't think women identity politics and voting could explain two different votes for two different candidates this far apart. >> i have spent a big part of my life listening to my fellow liberals telling me isn't it great the republicans have gone over the cliff again? look, they nominated orrin hatch in utah. he is going to be so toes beat. hey look, they might even nominate president ronald reagan for president. he is such a winger. we can beat him easily. i've heard this all my life. and what happens is the

enthusiasm you're watching there goes right into the general election. i don't see democratic events like this tonight. i want to look around and see if we see any in the closing hours tonight where democrats are that happy about anything. enthusiasm matters, rachel. >> enthusiasm absolutely matters. is it what we're seeing here the enthusiasm of a campaign that was never before about five minutes ago expected to get anywhere and had no institutional support? that dynamic is very minor on the left compared to the right. >> in the wilmington paper tomorrow, you're going to see a headline as big as you can believe that she won this thing. remember when schumer beat d'amato late in the game. you don't have to stop now. she goes right into the next couple of weeks and doesn't stop. it's great to win in the fall. >> lawrence, by my count, this means that eight nrsc-endorsed candidates, eight candidates endorsed by the national republican senate candidacy have lost this year.

eight of them. what does this mean for the republican party? is the party not actually part of equation now when we figure out whether or not candidates are viable? >> certainly not in the primary season. this does create the only hope that the democrats had. it's not to say the democrats are now going to win delaware, but it is to say they weren't going to win it against mike castle. there wasn't going to be any real chance at taking it away from castle. so now there is a chance. harry reid now has a real chance. and harry reid's poll numbers were the most disastrous incumbent poll numbers i have ever seen, and his numbers have come back to life in viability because this kind of candidate was nominated against him. that is the only reason harry reid is back on his feet is because of what the republican primary delivered to the ballot in the general election. >> and rachel, remember one thing about we talk about get out the vote on part of the democrats and the republicans.

the largest non-voting group in america are the people, how about this for taughtology, who don't vote, who have given up on the entire process, who are at all kinds of extremes, differences, fringes who would be gravitating. and you don't need -- you don't need all 50% of them in delaware to come out to vote for christine o'donnell to put her in the senate. you only need perhaps 20 or 30,000 of them to make a difference in a race, and to get 49 days in which to sell those people to come out and revolve themselves or perhaps involve themselves for the first time in the political process in a small sample in a small petri dish, this is not automatically good news to the democratic party, as much as that's the likeliest outcome. it's not the only possible outcome. >> as we wait for christine o'donnell to address her ebullient and exuberant supporters in wilmington tonight with this come-from-behind victory over mike castle. we're going to have to take a

quick break but we'll be back as long as you guys will indulge with us. primary night coverage. lots going on. big upset in delaware. we'll be right back. ht... ♪ ♪ with tasty grilled flavor and goodness to savor ♪ ♪ friskies grillers blend. ♪ feed the senses.

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msnbc's decision 2010 primary election coverage continues. right now with 99% of precincts reporting, christine o'donnell, the tea party-backed candidate for senate in delaware on the republican side has defeated long-time republican congressman mike castle. 99% of precincts reporting. o'donnell with 53% of the vote. mike castle with 47% of the vote. the associated press calling this race for christine o'donnell. a shocker to the establishment candidate mike castle. we'll be back with keith olbermann, chris matthews and lawrence. we'll be right back. in' for thi. so get allstate.

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thanks for being with us here on this big primary night. joining me now are my friends and colleagues here at msnbc keith olbermann, the host of "countdown," kris matthews host of hard bal and lawrence o'donnell. thank you very much for helping us out here. appreciate it. keith, let me talk to you about this turnout issue. what we've got right now in terms of the turnout figures out of the senate race in delaware is not just christine o'donnell beating mike castle, but what seems to be surprisingly high turnout. 57,000 votes roughly counted

already with 99% of precincts in. that's higher a number than i had seen projected in terms of expected turnout. >> by 12,000 or so. yeah, it was a significant jump. notice, though, that what the margin between the two candidates is if you show that vote count total again. again, issuing -- there is a lot of tea leaves in this cup. it's a question of how big is the cup. she won that thing by less than 4,000 votes. and as fascinating an outcome as it is, i don't know that it's predictive of anything other than the fact that what i referred to before the break which is that in a time of anti-politics, if you can energize people who would not ordinarily vote one way or the other, they can come in and take a nomination away from what would seemingly be a fairly easy bet. and thus if you can get all those people and double the number pour the general you have got a competitive race against the most acceptable and

mainstream and nonpliky looking politician you can find, whether he is a democrat or a republican. you can in fact beat both of them. and that turnout number suggests that one of the great get-out-the-vote measures is people who think they have totally disassociated from our political process who suddenly see one of theirs. and this could be one of theirs being -- it could be as chris pointed out disaffected women who like to see women succeed in politics when they did not after the 2008 nomination of obama over hillary clinton. they could be -- they could be the anti-pleasure vote that you alluded to earlier. they could be people who like to see people named o'donnell do well. it doesn't matter where you get 'em, just as long as you get 'em. we're trying to draw them here at msnbc. we get 50,000 of them, we're going to do a hell of a job at 10:00 every night. >> there was a time, rachel, when i would vote straight irish too. whenever i looked at the ballot, i didn't know the candidates, i would vote for the irish person.

but i do think if you're a liberal or progressive, i think you whistle past the graveyard if you don't see the pattern here. even if she had lost a narrow race tonight, i think it would have been very impressive for her. i think people go into voting, i've thought this for 30 years and they vote yes or no. and i think anything beyond that is the subtlety of the thing. you vote do you like the way the things are going? do you like the officials are running the country, the community are running things, you vote yes. if you don't, you vote no. in this case she was a no vote. you don't have to get in details, just know she was running against the establishment. i can't tell you how many times i have heard the word establishment. what a great name, by the way, castle. >> it is interesting. i think the mainstream about the elections this year is that it's an anti-incumbent year. but i actually think however annoyingly vague the word, mike

castle wasn't the incumbent for this seat. and a lot of people who lost, sue louden not the incumbent for seat in nevada, it's all these people, the biggest liability, particularly for republicans in primaries is being associated with the republican party. and so lawrence, how does the republican party heading into the midterm news with primary season essentially over now, how do they make sure that a no vote against -- a no vote that i don't like the way the country is going translates into a yes vote for a republican candidate? >> they need to channel this negative energy toward the federal government right now. they need to say this is the way to register your protest. christine o'donnell is a protest vote. people aren't voting for her because they think she is a greatly accomplished person or she is going to be, you know, the star on the senate floor. it is first and foremost a protest vote. and if she ends up in the senate, you know, then the protest vote goes all the way.

so i think the republicans are very well-placed strategically to channel these kind of votes into sending the protest message. this is the way you do it. tonight shows that there is a tremendous energy behind that protest. >> lawrence o'donnell, chris matthews, keith olbermann, my friends and colleagues here at msnbc. gentlemen, thank you for lending me some of your time this hour. still ahead, what tonight's results tell us about democrats and republicans' prospects for november elections. we'll be joined by 538's nate silver. we're also expecting a lot more results over the next few hours on msnbc. please stay with us. lots to come. you don't have to weigh 'em. with these priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service, if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. no weigh? nope. no way. yeah. no weigh? sure. no way! uh-uh. no way. yes way, no weigh.

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thanks for being with us for this primary night coverage. tonight already the huge headline christine o'donnell beating mike cast until the republican senate primary in delaware. mike castle the long-time republican congressman, the establishment choice, seen as a relatively moderate democrat. seen as having a very good chance against the democrat in that race, chris coons. nevertheless, defeated by christine o'donnell, the tea party-endorsed very, very conservative candidate in delaware. right now with 99% of precincts in, that's probably all we're going to get. 53 to 47 christine o'donnell over mike castle. tonight the field of candidates for this year's elections all over the country is getting that

much clearer. the nominations are nearly all in. there is one more runoff in louisiana. there is one more primary in hawaii. but tonight is the last big night of primaries. after the ballots have been set, we will essentially have both the democrats and the republicans' starting lineup, that they'll each be sending to the plate in november. at the start of primary season, republicans were given a not unreasonable, but not sure thing chance of regaining a majority in either the house or less likely in the senate. where does the likelihood stand now? joining us now is nate silver, the 538 blog which now lives at the "new york times" website. thank you so much for your time. >> thanks, rachel. >> let me get your reaction first of all to the christine o'donnell win over mike castle in delaware. late polls looked like that was going to be the result, but she did come from behind. >> there was one poll that came out and had her about three points ahead. they did a very good job. it's hard to forecast these primaries. if you had asked a few weeks

ago, it could happen after alaska. but castle has been elected by delaware like 20 times or something literally as its representative, lieutenant governor. he is not the incumbent in this race, but he is someone who delaware you think had a perpetual relationship with. republicans were thrilled when he decided to run for senate. he is an old guy. thought maybe he'll have one more term left for six years. they were thrilled when bo biden did not run. they have gone from this being an almost for sure win to a probable loss. >> well, can you quantify the electability difference between mike castle, the establishment guy, and christine o'donnell, who did win? can you quantify it? >> there is about a 20 point gap them, right, where the democrat coons was 10 points behind castle and 10 or 15 points ahead of o'donnell. you don't see that clear-cut case often. that's why proper suit and tie conservative groups like the national review or the weekly standard saying hey, guys, let's think about this here.

we want to take over the senate, right? castle is going to be with us some of the time and not all of the time. and people ignore the message and voted for o'donnell anyway. i do think the sfraz a little overused, but it's a little bit of a game-changer. in terms of the senate and the math now, there is one seat which looked for sure in the gop column is now going to be leaner even likely mocrat. plus the fact there is this whole other hand grenade thrown into the election and democrats are going to be excited about in a really perverse kind of way i suppose. it's not a good night for establishment republicans certainly. >> right in terms of the overall impact on the republicans' likelihood of taking over the senate, is -- is it -- i shouldn't say is it mathematic. anything is mattatically possible in an election. how much less likely it is that republicans will take the senate if this seat in delaware is now that much harder for them to get? >> well, we did run a piece on this a couple of days ago. it looks like if la montagna

also wins in new hampshire, then they'll have about a 15% chance, where as if both the establishment candidates won, they would have had a 30% chance. they have their chance tonight of taking over the senate. they still could. >> let's restate that to be clear. nationally in terms of you're just looking at the republicans' chance of taking over the senate. >> right. >> if castle and iot had won, they had a 30% chance of taking over the senate. >> now it's one in seven, one in eight. >> if la montagne wins. >> i think he is ahead the last count. >> do we have a current board in terms of the numbers in new hampshire? just coming in. we've got 14 percents of precincts. kelly aiot, the establishment candidate for the new hampshire republican senate nomination with 34% of the vote. only 14% in. but ovide la montagne seen as the outsider there. nate, to your point, if ovide la

montagne win there's, along with christine o'donnell, that puts the republicans' chance? >> 15%, where it could have been 30%. la montagne is a guy who endorse admit romney. he is not quite in the o'donnell category. ayotte looked like she was going to be a clear favorite. maybe will have some momentum behind him. but in delaware, to basically throw away a senate seat, you know, really rare to see a party kind of walk into that, walk into that trap. i think the one thing we learned tonight is no one is more unpopular, maybe not nancy pelosi and nancy reid than establishment republicans are right now. at least hard-core democrats like nancy pelosi, most of them do, right. but hard-core republicans don't like anyone with the establishment tag. and for someone like mike castle to lose who had been elected so many times, it's pretty stunning i think. >> the other e-word that is being overused and rightfully so

because establishment right now is enthusiasm. >> sure. >> can we look at turnout figures today and extrapolate from those to anything important about november, or should we be cautious about that? >> i think there are abundant signs that the republicans have a turnout advantage and maybe a substantial one in the election. i think it might also manifest itself on a case by case basis where one slight issue they have, and it's a good problem to have because they have so much momentum nationally. you're going to have a lot of enthusiasm behind a candidate like o'donnell among certain parts of the base, right. but she may not do quite as well with independents and moderates where someone like a mark kirk in illinois or rob portman in ohio, these, quote, well adjust kind of candidates i suppose, more moderate, they might not get that motivational gap from the conservatives as much and from the tea party. so maybe you kind of wind up splitting the loaf in a lot of places. i don't know. i think republicans are probably

likely again to take the house and the senate probably went down, it's still possible, i suppose. but you might see an id ideosyncracy from state to stay like scott brown, how did that guy win, a really blue state against an incumbent and surprise someone where other cases where they seem to have everything going right they might lose. candidates still do matter. you can tell in nevada, for example, where harry reid was dead meat in that race. you don't get reelected in a republican year when you're a democrat majority leader with an approval rating of 38%. he could still lose, right. it's a toss-up. but the fact he went from 10 or 12 points down to tied or a coupe points ahead, voters do have some threshold. >> the sharron angle factor. it matters. nate silver of the 538 blog which is at "the new york times" website now and deservedly so, nate. thanks for your time. >> thanks, rachel. remember health reform, that

thing that dominated every night on this show for approximately an eon? well, not every democrat in congress voted for it. and there are other democrats that have not forgotten. tonight the left tries to punch back at the ballot box. again, by recapping what we know so far about tonight's primaries, in delaware, the republican senate primary is the big news with 99% of precincts with reporting. the associated press calling the race for christine o'donnell, the insurgent outsider candidate in that race over long-time republican congressman mike castle. o'donnell coming in above castle 53 to 47% of the vote. we've also got a close watch on the new hampshire republican senate primary. right now just 14% of precincts reporting. so take these numbers with a grain of salt with that particular grain of salt. but right now ovide lamontagne, the outside candidate there prevailing 48 to 34% over kelly ayotte who is the establishment candidate in that race for lack of a better term.

but again, only 14% of precincts reporting. we'll be keeping an eye own that as our 2010 coverage continues. please stay with us. mom, new shoes? old legs. p.a.d., the doctor said. p-a-d... p.a.d. isn't just poor circulation in your legs causing you pain. it more than doubles your risk of a heart attack or stroke. i was going to tell you. if you have p.a.d., plavix can help protect you from a heart attack or stroke. plavix helps keep blood platelets from sticking together and forming clots, the cause of most heart attacks and strokes. call the doctor about plavix -- please? i will. [ male announcer ] certain genetic factors and some medicines such as prilosec reduce the effect of plavix leaving you at greater risk for heart attack and stroke. your doctor may use genetic tests to determine treatment. don't stop taking plavix without talking to your doctor as your risk of heart attack or stroke may increase.

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the most interesting thing in american electoral politics this year is not the fake tidal wave of anti-incumbent sentiment spelling doom for all sitting politicians. there is a little truth to that common beltway wisdom this year, but not all that much. the most interesting real dynamic this year has been the uprising on the right, the far right in some cases. hi, christine o'donnell against the republican establishment. that's happening in race after race after race. o'donnell defeats castle in delaware. miller defeats murkowski in alaska. rand paul defeats that other guy who mitch mcconnell liked in kentucky. it is the big dynamic of this year's primaries. but it's also happening a tiny little bit on the left. there are two democratic primaries today in which democratic establishment candidates are from in new hampshire and massachusetts. in massachusetts it was steven lynch protecting his left flank today. he is the projected winner 44%

of precincts reporting. steven lynch leads his challenger d'alessandro, expected to be the winner. d'alessandro challenged the congressman from boston in part because of steven lynch's vote against health reform this year. in that race as well as the one in new hampshire, pro-choice groups lent a big financial hand to the challengers. they and groups like moveon.org and emily's list and the labor union tried to unseat these dems and to narrow the huge fundraising advantages. in new hampshire's case it's katrina swett challenged from the left by ann mclane kuster. swett is daughter of tom lantos and married to richard swett. when a house seat came open in new hampshire it was a forgone conclusion she would run for it.

i was up there last week and there was swett everywhere, clear indication you're part of a family dynasty in politics. but katrina swett earned herself a liberal challenger in the democratic primary because she has done things like co-chairing liberal joe lieberman's presidential campaign. she also supported the war in iraq in the course of her failed 2002 campaign for this very same congressional seat. and of course she supports some restrictions on abortion. and kuster on the other hand has made a serious campaign issue of her own support from pro-choice groups. >> new hampshire's annie kuster, endorsed by every pro-choice group. >> we're going interrupt this coverage to bring you back to delaware where mike castle is addressing his supporters tonight after losing. >> as far as my life in government and the public life is concerned, i'd just like to thank each and every one of you. but there is no one i want to thank more than my beautiful

wife jane. [ applause ] none of this would have been possible out her unwavering support in every way. and for that i'm extremely appreciative. we had a long discussion about whether i should run for the senate or not, and we finally decided together that i should. we'll have a long discussion tonight about whether that was a good discussion or not. that's a whole different story. i am very proud of the integrity and the honesty of everyone who has been involved in my campaign, many of whom are behind me. [ applause ]

and it is with great humility that i stand here tonight to thank all of you for your support in many instances over many years, in some instances more recently. but i just cannot thank you enough for your support in helping me steer the political waters out there which sometimes can be difficult. the last several weeks have been spirited, shall we say. and the voters in the republican primary have spoken and i respect that decision. i have had the privilege as everyone here knows of serving this state in a number of capacities over many years now. and i love this state. we are a community that knows each other, that works well together, and over the years we have been able to achieve much in this state. and for that i can say it would not have been done without the help of each and every one of you. i have enjoyed my time in the

congress of the united states. that's not to say it's an easy job. it's a lot of very hard work, but i have enjoyed it tremendously and the opportunity to serve everybody in our state. and i just want to particularly thank those behind me. i didn't know they were going to be here. but this is mostly my staff here on the stage and others who helped in the campaign. i would like to thank them too. they have made a great difference. they're the ones who served you. they're the ones who answered the calls of delawarans and said here is how you can straighten out your problem situation, maybe a mortgage or a job situation or something of that nature. i would like to thank the republican party for its support. obviously tom ross and priscilla and laird and all those who make up the party. i would like to thank tom wagner who i had the opportunity of appointing many years ago. he is still there, for god's sake. he is going to go on. and that's extraordinarily important too. you know, i wish i could go around the room and talk about all of you individually, because

of the huge difference which you have made in my life and hopefully in the life of many, many delawarans. i believe we have had the opportunity to do that. and for that i'm extremely appreciative. i had a very nice speech prepared here, hoping i would win this race and talked about the things we've been able to do to create jobs and reduce taxes, and those things that make a difference to delawareans. >> nine-term congressman mike castle of delaware in his concession speech tonight if you are awaiting a grand statement of republican party unity with him getting behind christine o'donnell ahead of the general election there, senate campaign against chris coons, we have not yet heard it. christine o'donnell defeating mike castle. we expect to hear from her very shortly. with 100% of precincts in in delaware, she beat him 53 to 47%. our election night coverage

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in one of the results that makes politics so much fun to cover, christine o'donnell, seen by many as a troubled person who is unlikely to be elected in a statewide office, christine o'donnell comes from behind to defeat the perennial incumbent, mike castle. nine-time republican from delaware. more results ahead on this primary night here on msnbc. stay with us. appraiser: well you rarely see them in this good of shape. appraiser: for example the fingers are perfect. appraiser: the bird is in mint condition. appraiser: and i would say if this were to go to auction today, appraiser: conservatively it would be worth 2 in the bush. woman: really? appraiser: it's just beautiful, thank you so much for bringing it in. woman: unbelievable anncr: geico. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more. everyone knows a fee is a tax.

you raised some taxes during that period, particularly the property tax as well as a lot of fee increases. as you know, there's a big difference between fees and taxes. but...they're the same. it's a tax. it's a tax. it's a tax. it's a tax. there's a big difference between fees and taxes. fees and taxes are one in the same. if it comes out of my pocket, it's a tax. now he says it isn't true. we didn't raise taxes. what? still doing the same thing, paying out more money. typical politician. definitely.

our coverage continues tonight with all of the primaries in seven states and the district of columbia. in massachusetts, stephen lynch has defeated his challenger mac d'alessandro. tea party supported lamontaine facing kelly ayotte in new hampshire. right now, lamontaine is ahead 35% to 45% over ayotte.

blue dog katrina swett facing ann custer. right now, ann custer well out ahead of katrina swett. in new york, where veteran democratic congressman charlie rangel is trying to hold his seat, we cannot give you results in that race. we're keeping a close eye on it. in new york state, the republican nomination for governor. rick lazio facing a strong challenge from carl paladino. with just 6% of precincts reporting now, carl paladino well out ahead of rick lazio. the story of the night, christine o'donnell has pulled off the upset in delaware's senate primary. defeating mike castle for the republican nomination for

senate. with tonight's win, christine o'donnell becomes a name of which americans will be much more familiar. tonight she actually won, which should not be confused with her false claims during the campaign, that she defeated or maybe tied joe bind when she ran in the 2008 senate race in two of delaware's three counties and still managed to lose. you may also recall she floated the suggestion that her opponent, congressman castle was secretly gay. she defended herself against charges that she had called him gay, by telling mr. castle he should put his man pants on. tonight we can mark the occasion of christine o'donnell's man pants victory, a theme that is certain to revert in november. we can mark the victory with this, christine o'donnell speaking to mtv in 1996 in the capacity of her previous job, which was a national abstinence campaigner. she's now the republican party's

official candidate for u.s. senate in delaware. >> my name is christine o'donnell. i am the president and founder of the salt, the savier's alliance for lifting the truth. we choose sexual purity in our lives. we have god-given sexual desires, and we need to understand them and preserve them to be used in god's appropriate context. we need to address sexuality with young people. mast masterbation is a part of this. >> it's a selfish act. it's a lustful one, we are to walk with pure hearts. >> the bible is clear in the fact that it says, any sexual act outside of the realm of marriage is wrong. >> lust in your heart is committing adultery. you can't masterbate without lust. >> the reason you don't tell

them it's the answer to aids and all these other problems that come with sex outside the marriage is because it's not addressing the issue. you're going to be pleasing each other. if he already knows what pleases him and he can please himself, why am i in the picture? >> joining us now, ezra klein. thanks for joining us. >> it's going to be hard to follow that, rachel. >> i know. does this mean that culture war issues are back in politics, though? does that mean we end up talking about them, even if the republicans don't went that to be what we talk about? >> i think anybody who's telling you they know what it means tonight is jumping the gun. let me give you numbers, because i'm shocked by them. only 29% of people in delaware, have a favorable opinion of her. only 31% think she's qualified to hold office at all. of mike castle's primary voters, 44% of them will back her over

the opponent. this has been a year of surprises. who knows what happens in november here. it looks like republicans just lost a very safe senate seat by nominating somebody who the people of delaware completely have no confidence in. >> has this just nationalized the election, though? sharron angle isn't a one off. ken buck isn't a one off. this is a very extreme slate of republican candidates now. >> this is interesting. what you always want to do as the opposition party, you want to make the midterm a referendum not the choice. you do that by being gray. you keep yourself back, and let people dislike the democrats and vote based on that. when these candidates start getting in and they're so colorful and unbelievable. it does become a choice, people are going to know who christine o'donnell is. in delaware, i bet you by the end of this, more people know a lot more about her than they do the democrat. that's going to be true in other states. an